The monosyllables of the next line accumulate differing vowel sounds, combined with the repeated consonant T followed by the plosive B and hard C.

Investigating language and tone

Do you find the voice of the bard persuasive here?

Structure and versification

The rhyme scheme ABBCCDDEFEF suggests a predictability which is undercut by the final three lines, whose extra syllables cause the rhythm to stumble. Until these last three lines, the closing rhymes are open vowel sounds: ‘born' / ‘morn', ‘maze' / ‘ways'. The caesura in l. 1and 4, and repeated structure between l.4 and 5 give the lines a spaciousness and balance.

The disturbing vision of the Bard is suggested by sudden changes in the underlying metre. It shifts from iambic in the first three lines (with an initial inverted foot in l.1 and 3) to trochaic for the next two rhyming couplets, which increases the emphatic tone of the Bard. This is then disrupted by the exclamation of l.8, followed by a shift to anapaestic, then iambic, then anapaestic tetrameter again. The overall effect is unsettling.

Investigating structure and versification

Why do you think Blake patterned the poem in this way?

Is it important for the form of a poem to reflect its meaning?

How successful do you think the form is here?

English Standard Version

King James Version

1Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said,2Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.3He answered them, And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?4For God commanded, Honor your father and your mother, and, Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.5But you say, If anyone tells his father or his mother, What you would have gained from me is given to God,6he need not honor his father. So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God.7You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:8This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;9in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.10And he called the people to him and said to them, Hear and understand:11it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.12Then the disciples came and said to him, Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?13He answered, Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up.14Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.15But Peter said to him, Explain the parable to us.16And he said, Are you also still without understanding?17Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled?18But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.19For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.20These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.21And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon.22And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.23But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, Send her away, for she is crying out after us.24He answered, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.25But she came and knelt before him, saying, Lord, help me.26And he answered, It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.27She said, Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table.28Then Jesus answered her, O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire. And her daughter was healed instantly.29Jesus went on from there and walked beside the Sea of Galilee. And he went up on the mountain and sat down there.30And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them,31so that the crowd wondered, when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel.32Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.33And the disciples said to him, Where are we to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd?34And Jesus said to them, How many loaves do you have? They said, Seven, and a few small fish.35And directing the crowd to sit down on the ground,36he took the seven loaves and the fish, and having given thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.37And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces left over.38Those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.39And after sending away the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.

1Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying,2Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.3But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?4For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.5But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;6And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.7Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,8This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.9But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.10And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand:11Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.12Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying?13But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.14Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.15Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable.16And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?17Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?18But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.19For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:20These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.21Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.22And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.23But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.24But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.25Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.26But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.27And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.28Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.29And Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee; and went up into a mountain, and sat down there.30And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet; and he healed them:31Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel.32Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way.33And his disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude?34And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes.35And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.36And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.37And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full.38And they that did eat were four thousand men, beside women and children.39And he sent away the multitude, and took ship, and came into the coasts of Magdala.

The plans or message of God communicated by God through a human messenger called a prophet.

The Christian Bible consists of the Old Testament scriptures inherited from Judaism, together with the New Testament, drawn from writings produced from c.40-125CE, which describe the life of Jesus and the establishment of the Christian church.

Alliteration is a device frequently used in poetry or rhetoric (speech-making) whereby words starting with the same consonant are used in close proximity- e.g. 'fast in fires', 'stars, start'.

Expression of grief. A lament is a literary form used to express grief and sometimes questioning caused by a crisis.

The name given to the man believed by Christians to be the Son of God. Also given the title Christ, meaning 'anointed one' or Messiah. His life is recorded most fully in the Four Gospels.

a bursting out, or 'explosive' sound made by the lips, as in words beginning with 'b' and 'p'

The ordered or regular patterns of rhyme at the ends of lines or verses of poetry.

A pause, often indicated in text by a comma or full stop, during a line of blank verse.

The particular measurement in a line of poetry, determined by the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables (in some languages, the pattern of long and short syllables). It is the measured basis of rhythm.

A term used of speech rhythms in blank verse; an iambic rhythm is an unstressed, or weak, beat followed by a stressed, or strong, beat. It is a rising metre.

Use of a metric foot in a line of verse, consisting of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed. It is thus a falling metre.

Pairs of lines which rhyme with each other.

A metre in poetry, each foot consisting of two unstressed syllables, followed by a stressed syllable. A rising metre, like the iambic.

A line of verse consisting of four metrical feet (in modern verse) or eight feet (in classical verse).